MacTech Blog

Oct 28

Apple wants to build better looking, simpler displays

Apple wants to make displays are there simpler in design and even better looking, according to a new patent at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Patent number 20100271767 is for microperforated and backlit displays having alternative display capabilities.

A visual display having microperforations, backlighting and contrasting surface finishes is disclosed. The visual display includes an opaque base object having a front surface and a plurality of microperforations therethrough from the front surface to a back surface. Each microperforation has a diameter of about 100 microns or less, and numerous microperforations are arranged into an overall pattern, such as a logo, text or advertisement.

A light source placed proximate to the back surface passes light through the microperforations to be visible at the front surface, such that the overall pattern can be visibly perceived when the light source is turned on. A contrasting surface finish formed on the front...

New Apple patents at the US Patent & Trademark Office involve multi-connectors, microphone lines, RAW imaging processing, and EMI switching circuits. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 20100271790 is for a multi-connector assembly. The invention can relate to multiple-connector assemblies for use in, for example, electronic devices. Each of the connectors are constrained to another connector by aligning one or more complementary sets of reference features. A locating bracket may be used to couple multiple connectors together. Alternatively, the connectors may be coupled to each other directly. The electronic device also may include a retainer coupled to the connectors (either directly or indirectly through the locating bracket). The retainer and a surface of one of the connectors may form a single plane to which an end cap of the housing may be coupled, thereby accurately locating the end cap with respect to the connectors. The present...

Apple wants to make it easier to use your iOS devices with other audio components, per a new filing at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Patent number 20100273356 is for an apparatus for connecting two electrical devices together.

Methods and apparatus are provided for connecting together two audio components that have different size connectors and/or a different configuration of electrical contacts between them. In one embodiment of the present invention, an audio adaptor is designed having an audio plug of one size to mate with a first electrical device, such as an integrated mediaphone such as the iPhone, and an audio jack having a different size to mate with a second electrical device, such as a conventional cell phone headset having a single earpiece.

In that instance, the plug would be a four-prong, 3.5 millimeter stereo device, while the jack would be a three-prong, 2.5 millimeter monaural device. The adaptor includes circuitry that takes one audio...

As evidenced by a new patent (number 20100273538) at the US Patent & Trademark Office, Apple is working to make its devices even more scratch proof. The patent is for nitriding stainless steel for consumer electronics products.

It involves cost effective system, method and apparatus adapted to provide a nitride layer on stainless steel used for the manufacture of consumer electronic products. In addition to providing a durable, hard surface that is both scratch and impact resistant, the nitride layer allows for the natural surface color and texture of the underlying stainless steel to remain visible to the user. It is this natural surface color and texture of the stainless steel that adds to the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the consumer electronic product thereby enhancing the user's overall experience, says Apple. The inventor is Douglas Weber.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "The stainless steels owe their resistance to corrosion...

Let's look into a crystal ball today and imagine Apple product areas that might be hot in the next few years. We know that cool electronic things find first a needful niche to fill -- a niche that that may or may not be realized by the general public.

But when Steve Jobs goes on stage and launches it there is a collective gasp as the crowd "gets it," and the undiscovered itch then has to be scratched. People suddenly want the new Apple Chrome Reverse Dismophlange Phlange and Steve sells them like hotcakes. Apple ramps up production and the coffers at the bank swell by a few more billion. The Mac OS is tweaked to operate the new device and everything Apple sells briskly.

As an inventor, I know that there are three general types of people in the world. There are those with the ability to see the need and imagine a novel solution, there are those who can't see the novel solution, but understand it when they see it, and then there...

The Gartner research group recently highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends that will be strategic for most organizations in 2011. Most of them affect Apple, mostly in a positive way. The top 10 technologies are:

° Cloud computing.Though I still don't think most folks want all their valuable data and files (including music, photos and videos) in "the cloud," Gartner thinks the next three years will see the delivery of a range of cloud service approaches that fall between the two extremes of open public to closed private. Vendors will offer packaged private cloud implementations that deliver the vendor's public cloud service technologies (software and/or hardware) and methodologies (i.e., best practices to build and run the service) in a form that can be implemented inside the consumer's enterprise.

Many will also offer management services to remotely manage the cloud service implementation. Gartner expects large enterprises to have a dynamic...

The press is full of speculation as to what Apple might be into regarding the acquisitions department. Not many companies have over 50 billion dollars sitting around. While the income from the savings amounts to a lot even at a fairly low interest rate, Apple might make more in a sound investment in the form of buying the right companies.

Sony stock bumped up on the rumor that Apple might buy them. With a market cap of about 35 billion dollars Apple could acquire them but the big question is why? I speculated Sony might be a good buy for Apple three years ago in an article published by MacDailyNews.com. Here is the link to that article. http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/15331/opinion/ .

The reasons it might make sense then still make sense today. Sony is now worth about twice what it was during the market crash of a couple of years ago, but the company is still depressed considering its history and...

Apple wants to make it easier to pair wireless accessories with host devices, per a patent (number 7,813,715) that has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The invention relates to wireless devices and, more particularly, to pairing wireless devices for authorized data exchange.

Techniques that facilitate pairing of wireless accessory devices with wireless host devices are disclosed. Advantageously, the improved techniques permit pairing of wireless devices without requiring user entry of pin codes. In one embodiment, a wireless accessory device, such as a headset or earphone, can be paired with a wireless host device, such as a mobile phone or media player. The inventors are Chris McKillop and Chris Wiebe.

An Apple patent (number 7,823,214) for a system for ranking the relevance of information objects accessed by computer users has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. It's directed to information access in multiuser computer systems, and more particularly to a system for ranking the relevance of information that is accessed via a computer.

Information presented to a user via an information access system is ranked according to a prediction of the likely degree of relevance to the user's interests. A profile of interests is stored for each user having access to the system. Items of information to be presented to a user are ranked according to their likely degree of relevance to that user and displayed in order of ranking. The prediction of relevance is carried out by combining data pertaining to the content of each item of information with other data regarding correlations of interests between users.

Three Apple patents involving video encoders, data storage systems and electronic devices have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Following is a summary of each.

Patent number 7,822,118 is for a method and apparatus for control of rate-distortion tradeoff by mode selection in video encoders. The system of the present invention first selects a distortion value D near a desired distortion value. Next, the system determines a quantizer value Q using the selected distortion value D. The system then calculates a Lagrange multiplier lambda using the quantizer value Q. Using the selected Lagrange multiplier lambda and quantizer value Q, the system begins encoding pixelblocks. If the system detects a potential buffer overflow, then the system will increase the Lagrange multiplier lambda. If the Lagrange multiplier lambda exceeds a maximum lambda threshold then the system will increase the quantizer value Q. If the system detects a potential buffer...

Currently, there's Mac OS X for, well, Macs, as well as its "little brother," iOS, for Apple's mobile devices. However, Mac OS X Lion, which will prowl next summer, will introduce iOS features into Mac OS X proper. That's a trend that I'm sure will continue.
In fact, I think it won't be long before there's no Mac OS X or iOS as separate entities. There will simply be one operating system known as Apple OS. The features of the two now-separate, but kin, operating systems will merge into one, scalable system.

The well oiled machine that is the Apple iTunes/App store is a far cry from the Android apps stores. While there are stories in the press about various app developers beginning to write apps for the Google smart phones, there are also just as many stories about developer's serious problems dealing with that loosely controlled "go to market" system.

Google engineer Andy Rubin was quoted as saying the Android platform is "still seeing the 1.0 version of the ecosystem." The race to quantity has resulted in a quality program for Android Apps. The percentage of apps that crash all the time are much higher that what we see in the iOS platform. Looser controls mean less quality for the end user.

While developers moan and groan about Apple's stringent and less-than-transparent review process and express great anger at their control over both content and the working of the apps, Apple developers who do things right get paid. Some of...

It's too early to tell how much 3D TVs will take off -- though it looks as if they're shaping up to be a success over the long haul. And that means we'll eventually see 3D supported on computer displays. But that's likely to be a while.

While 3DTV has been the topic of much industry excitement and hockey stick adoption forecasts, recent research conducted by Strategy Analytics (http://www.strategyanalytics.com) suggests that it will remain very much an event-driven technology, attractive to a select group of consumers.

The survey, which polled 4,800 residents in the US, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, measured consumer interest in, understanding of, and willingness to pay for 3DTV services. Despite the fact that those who have seen cinematic 3D are largely impressed with its quality -- 69% overall say they were “somewhat” or “very” impressed -- translating those...

When Apple obsoletes technology a groan generally goes up from both people used to the status quo and hardware companies that are directly affected. Remember the demise of floppy drives and the near death of FireWire? Such a groan went up when Apple recently launched the new MacBook Air laptops that, like iPad, iPods and the Apple TV uses flash memory instead of a hard drive.

While the cost for storage using flash memory is higher per gig of memory, there are distinct advantages to going with solid state memory instead of a mechanical rotating disk that is prone to crash. In time, all hard drives will fail. A hard bump at just the wrong time can sometimes destroy a hard drive and leave the user with a sudden data loss. Sometimes a strange noise will give a warning, but the sudden hard drive crash without a warning is common.

I am lucky, so far, and have never had a hard drive go bad, but there are a lot of folks that have had a...

Could cloud-based radio be part of iTunes' future? Three patents at the US Patent & Trademark Office indicate that Apple has at least considered it. Or at least you can expect radio implemented in more versions of the iPod than the nano.

Patent number 20100269145 involves accessing radio content from a non-radio source. Systems and methods are provided for accessing broadcast media items and segments from non-broadcast sources. In response to detecting that a user has not finished listening to a broadcast segment (e.g., a radio segment), an electronic device can automatically identify and access an alternate, non-broadcast source for the same broadcast segment (e.g., a corresponding podcast episode).

Using the electronic device, a user can play back the segment from the non-broadcast source, starting playback at the last position of the broadcast segment when the user stopped listening to the broadcast. In some embodiments, the electronic device...

Could future Apple TVs have DVD functions? A new Apple patent at the US Patent & Trademark Office hints that this could be the case, noting that "this technology could be aimed at a digital video recorder." At the very least the patent shows that the long term future for all of Apple's devices involves solid-state memory.

Patent number 20100268866 is for systems and methods for operating a disk drive. System and methods for storing data to a storage device are provided. In embodiments, the storage device may include a disk drive with a solid-state memory for storing certain frequently updated information. In some embodiments, the solid-state memory may be used to store journaling information. The inventor is Thomas R. Colligan.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Hard disk drives continue to be one of the most widely used electronic storage mediums. Typically, a hard drive stores electronic data by storing a series of magnetic polarity...

Apple apparently plans on improving tethering in upcoming iOS devices -- and perhaps Macs, based on a new patent at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Tethering is using a cell phone as a modem for your laptop or other device.

Creating a connection either with cables or wirelessly "tethers" your cell phone to your other mobile device. This can usually be done through Bluetooth wireless technology or cables (such as USB), allowing the device without built-in access to connect to the Internet, using the other device as a modem.

Patent number 20100267368 -- with Cahya Masputra as the inventor -- is for a handheld device capable or providing data tethering services while maintaining a suite of handheld service functions. An improved tethering system is described in which a handheld device can be used by a user to reach the same network that the handheld device also provides access to for a tethering machine.

The combination of the recent conference call regarding the financial quarter and the "Back to the Mac" event on Thursday leaves a number of unsettled issues. I still insist a Hobby App for iOS must be on the way, and I was disappointed iWeb 4 wasn't part of iLife.

Notice the price dropped to US$49 for iLife due to the lack of an updated iDVD and updated iWeb. They included the old version of both programs on the iLife disk but you have to look deep in the information to find that information. While I use iPhoto, I will wait to buy iLife for a while. It is possible the Hobby App iOS creator program will come out with the next iWork release. I doubt the $49 price point will hold for full releases of future iWork and iLife.

The other thing on my mind is the giant bank balance at Apple. Over $50,000,000 in the bank is unusual even for the second biggest company in the world. CEO Steve Jobs mentioned they might be buying a strategic...

Mac users were surely comforted by yesterday's "Back to the Mac" event in which a new Mac OS X (Lion), a new iLife, a new MacBook Air and lots of professed love for our favorite computing platform was served up.

One of the most interesting factoids unveiled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was that the Mac segment of Apple were a standalone company -- which they said Apple had no intention of doing -- would be number 110 on the Fortune 500 list. And the Mac accounts for a third of Apple's revenue.

"The Mac is a $22 billion business for us and we continue to heavily invest in it," Cook said.

So for those who have said Apple's future was in iOS devices, think again. Some other interesting tidbits from yesterday's special event.

° Don't hold your breath for a touchscreen Mac. Apple will be bringing more touch gestures to its computer line, but they'll be implemented by the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad as touch commands on a...

Today Apple will host the much anticipated “Back to the Mac” media event, in which Jobs & Company will tell us what’s new for the Mac will preview the next version of Mac OS X. Let's look at the speculation and see what's likely.

We'll definitely get some info on the next version of Mac OS X and, based on the logo on the invitation to the event, it will be dubbed Mac OS X 10.7 ("Lion"). Although some folks are skeptical, I think we'll see the beginning of a merge of Mac OS X and the iOS that will bring touch commands to future Macs.

Now I don't think Apple will make touch the main way for us to interact with Macs. But it will be an option along with keyboards, mice and trackpads. I also think Lion will sport an iOS emulator environment that lets Mac users run iOS apps. I also suspect we'll see AirPlay implementation and ways of integrating the Mac OS file system into mobile devices. But don't hold your breath; Lion isn't likely to prowl until summer or fall of...

Apple was also granted a patent design (number D625,733) for its iPhone compass icon, invented by Fredy Anzures. Other patents won by Apple are as follows.

Patent number 7,817,180 involves iChat as it involves video procesing in a multi-participant video conference. Some embodiments provide an architecture for establishing multi-participant video conferences. This architecture has a central distributor that receives video images from two or more participants. From the received images, the central distributor generates composite images that the central distributor transmits...

Apple announced its latest financial results today. The Sellers Research Firm (that's me) made its forecasts and didn't do too badly. Let's have a look.

I predicted sales of 4.02 million Macs. Apple sold 3.89 million (the most ever).

I forecast sales of 9.76 million iPods. Apple sold 9.05.

I predicted sales of 12.37 million iPhones. Apple sold 14.1 million (the most ever).

I forecast sales of 6.1 million iPads. Apple sold 4.19 million.

I forecast earnings per share of US$4.75. Apple posted $4.64 per diluted share.

Things to note about the financial announcements. Apple, as usual, trounced Wall Street’s forecasts for its fourth-fiscal quarter. The company also followed its typical approach of issuing a highly conservative forecast for the December quarter. Apple shares were halted for after-hours trades on Monday after closing up 1% at $318 in the regular session; that was a new high.

Dollars to donuts, the name for Mac OS 10.7 will be Lion. The invitation to the October Apple product announcement clearly shows a lion peeking out of the Apple logo. This follows with the big cat name protocol we have seen in the past.

Mac OS X 10.0, released in March 2001, was Cheetah. Mac OS X 10.1, released in September 2001, was Puma. Mac OS X 10.2, released in August 2002, was Jaguar. Mac OS X 10.3, released in October 2003, was Panther. Mac OS X 10.4, released in April 2005, was Tiger. Mac OS X 10.5, released in October 2007, was Leopard. And Mac OS X 10.6, released in August 2009, was Snow Leopard.

When Apple launches things they generally are actual products that are "available today at the Apple Store" or by such and such a date right around the corner. Occasionally, for good reasons that are compelling, Apple CEO Steve Jobs letd us know what is coming a bit further head of time.

The PC world has strangely stopped worrying -- at least publicly -- so much about the iPad and the tablet market in general. At least for now.

Frankly, the underlying problem for PC tablets is that in addition to being caught completely flatfooted in the smart phone software market, Microsoft has also hopelessly bungled the tablet revolution as well. It appears Microsoft is doomed to ride the PC into the ground while the smartphone and tablet markets take over the consumer computer market.

While the numbers won't come out until next week on the first quarter of Apple iPad sales, the biggest PC microprocessor suppliers Intel and ADM have more or less put tablet support on the back burner. While a number of major players are hoping to get into the tablet market right away, the lack of a viable off the shelf software operating system from Microsoft has left a major hole in tablet development.

The rumors are flying again that Verizon will start carrying the iPhone in 2011. My gut feeling tells me that those rumors are, at long last, right.

If this happens AT&T will lose its exclusive hold on the smartphone. Some industry researchers estimate that Verizon’s release of the iPhone would drive Apple’s U.S. sales higher by at least five million units in 2011.

The deal would also give Apple a stronger advantage in its battle with Research In Motion, whose BlackBerrys are currently promoted by Verzion Wireless. The availability of Apple’s iPhone through Verizon may drive down market share of Research In Motion, says Zachs Equity Research (http://at.zacks.com/?id=5514). The firm also thinks that the end of AT&T’s exclusive hold on the iPhone will provide Verizon a boost in its competition against other smartphones and drive Verizon's earnings in the near term.

Mac unit sales, which stalled in the second quarter as customers waited for the new MacBooks that arrived in April and May, took off in the third quarter, coming in just shy of 3.5 million, reports "Fortune." Or, according to some industry watchers, that figure might even top four million (I think it will).

So while Apple's big love seems to be bestowed upon its iOS devices, the Mac is one of the main contributors to the company's bottom line. It's time Apple lavished some promotional love, ad money and innovation to its computer line. And perhaps with the "Back to the Mac" media event slated for Oct. 20, that's exactly what will happen.

Ten years ago, Apple could barely move 300,000 Macs a quarter. Now it's moving 3.5 to four million per quarter without breaking a sweat. Hopefully, in 2011 we'll see Jobs & Company release Macs with innovative new features -- and spend some money telling the world about them.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a patent (number 7814163) first filed in 2008 that prevents users from sending or receiving “inappropriate” text messages. The patent is for "text-based communication control for a personal communications device."

According to Apple, systems, devices, and methods are provided for enabling a user to control the content of text-based messages sent to or received from an administered device. In some embodiments, a message will be blocked (incoming or outgoing) if the message includes forbidden content. In other embodiments, the objectionable content is removed from the message prior to transmission or as part of the receiving process. The content of such a message is controlled by filtering the message based on defined criteria. The criteria may be defined according to a parental control application. These techniques also may be used, in accordance with instructional embodiments, to require the administered devices to include...

My daughter loaded We Rule, the iOS game in which you manage a small kingdom including houses for the people, stores of all kinds, collect taxes, rents and grow crops to buy more infrastructure. The iPad was soon also loaded and I set up my own "kingdom" and have enjoyed planning my own community, as well.

The games are free but they try to sell you mojo to speed up the development and crops of your kingdom for those without patience. They sell mojo for real dollars on the iTune store. They also give you five mojo units if you download and open apps.

We Rule is cute and engaging, but little did I expect the NGMOCO company, that has my little kingdom on its servers, would be sold for US$400,000,000. Yep, I counted the zeros right twice. They sold out for $300 million cash boom and get another $100 million if the cash flow is according to expectations. Not bad for a company formed just a few years ago.

The online scuttlebutt says iLife 2011 is coming very soon, dropping iDVD and adding a new app. I think that's about right, and I think that new app may be a hybrid of FaceTime and iChat. (FaceChat? iTime? Naw, Apple will probably just call it FaceTime.)

In case you're not familiar with it, FaceTime is video calling that uses Wi-Fi. Apple says that using FaceTime is as easy as making a regular voice call, with no set-up required. On the iPhone 4 and fourth gen iPod touch, you can instantly switch to the rear camera to show others what you are seeing with just a tap.

FaceTime works right out of the box. You don't have to up a special account or screen name.If you want to start a video call with your best friend, find her entry in your Contacts and tap the FaceTime button. Or maybe you’re already on a voice call with her and you want to switch to video. Just tap the FaceTime button on the Phone screen. Either way, an invitation pops up on her iPhone 4 screen asking if...

Apple has been granted several patents by the US Patent & Trademark Office. Four involve touch screens and iOS devices, while three others are design wins.

Patent number 7,812,826 is for a portable electronic device with multi-touch input. Per the patent a portable communication device with multi-touch input detects one or more multi-touch contacts and motions and performs one or more operations on an object based on the one or more multi-touch contacts and/or motions. The object has a resolution that is less than a pre-determined threshold when the operation is performed on the object, and the object has a resolution that is greater than the pre-determined threshold at other times. The inventors are Bas Ording, Scott Forstall, Greg Christie, Stephen O. Lemay and Imran Chaudhri.

Patent number 7,812,827 is for a simultaneous sensing arrangement. Multi-touch touch-sensing devices and methods are described. The touch sensing devices...

When one considers the potential for Microsoft to elbow their way into the smartphone market with their "late to the party" Mobile Vista 7, there are distinct categories of customers that have to buy it in significant numbers for the product to succeed. If we examine the smartphone market that exists today from the basis of a customer category analysis, the prospects are quite grim for Microsoft. Who is going to buy it?

While throwing half a billion dollars at advertising can sell Miss, Piggy as a ravishing beauty queen -- and that will work for a while -- but there is no amount of lipstick that can make her not a pig. She still stinks and oinks. and I think Mobile Vista 7 will oink like the Microsoft pig that it is. Developers and hardware companies alike might bank on the tons of short term money Microsoft is willing to risk to buy their way into the smartphone market they advocated to Apple and Google, but it might well be a major...

In the extremely high stakes competition in smart phone operating systems, Microsoft's new Mobile OS appears to be a stone loser. This is for a number of indisputable reasons.

The expensive advertising program (rumored to be half a billion dollars) which will be launched soon, and the efforts of various hardware companies and cell phone carriers rallied to support Vista 7 are likely to be a doomed and completely wasted effort. This will certainly end Microsoft's presence in the mobile market, which includes both smart phones and slate computers.

The future of computers is the smartphone and slate market, and everyone knows it. I think Microsoft is toast. Goldman Sachs already downgraded Microsoft stock to neutral, saying "the company needed to show some progress on mobile devices such as the smartphone and a device to compete with the iPad." Goldman analyst Sarah Friar wrote in her report, "The company needs an immediately...

If Apple wants to pull out its big guns and make a serious move with the Apple TV for the living room, here's their chance. Residential television service customers are notably less satisfied with the cost of service, compared with 2009, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Residential Television Service Satisfaction Study (http://www.JDPower.com).

Customer satisfaction with the cost of television service averages 541 on a 1,000-point scale in 2010, down 14 points from 555 in 2009. Customers of traditional cable providers are particularly dissatisfied with their cost of service. Satisfaction with fairness of prices paid among cable customers is 22% lower than among customers of telephone company providers (such as AT&T and Verizon) and 18% lower than among customers of satellite providers (such as DIRECTV and DISH).

Apple's iPad has seen faster acceptance in the main stream of electronic devices than anything else so to date, including regular DVD players made by a lot of companies. So much for the predictions iPad wouldn't sell -- as made by other well known tech company CEOs.

The problem for the competition is that as far advanced as the iPad is, we are half way through the development cycle for the next version. If the iPad takes the same virtual yearly model cycle we have seen with other major Apple products, sometime in the spring Apple will announce the next iPad with a lot of the features most in demand, such as cameras. FaceTime is likely to be a feature, as well as a mini USB port. The iPad has the potential to be a phone with the FaceTime feature using an earphone with mic arrangement.

I am of the opinion the Hobby App creator program is coming very soon from Apple. We know Google is in beta on an Android App Inventor program soon...

Intel is developing a tool that will make it easier for developers to port iPhone applications to Intel-based smartphones, tablets and other devices, a company executive said Tuesday, reports the IDG News Service (http://www.macworld.com/article/154632/2010/10/intel_mobile_apps.html). Which makes me wonder: if Intel is doing this, could it and Apple also team up to run the iOS apps on the Intel chips used in Macs?

Most smartphones and tablets today run on Arm-based processors. The new Intel tool will identify changes that need to be made in an iPhone application, making it easier to convert the application to run on Intel-based hardware, says Doug Fisher, vice president of Intel’s Software and Services group and general manager of its Systems Software division, in an interview with IDG.

Five new patents have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here's a summary of each.

Patent number 20100257215 is for configurable offline storage. A method and apparatus for a configurable offline data store are described. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a request for a first set of one or more records from a client application, wherein the first set is remotely stored. The method further includes determining a second set of one or more records that is associated with the first set, wherein the second set is remotely stored. The method further includes fetching over a network the first set and the second set from a server data store unit; storing the first set and the second set in a client data store unit and providing access to the first set and the second set when the network is not operational. Bruce Gaya is the inventor.

Patent number 20100257179 involves methods and systems for managing data....

An Apple patent (number 20100253638) -- which first appeared in 2009 -- underscores the fact that the company is working on touchscreen Macs. The patent, "Integrated Touch Sensitive Display Gate Driver," describes a circuit that would switch between display and touch modes, enabling and disabling an integrated touch sensitive display when necessary.

A gate driver circuit for switching gate line voltage supplies between display and touch modes is disclosed. The circuit can include one or more switches configured to switch one or more gate lines of an integrated touch sensitive display between a display mode and a touch mode. During touch mode, the circuit can be configured to switch the gate lines to connect to a more stable voltage supply. The circuit can also be configured to reduce or eliminate interference from the display circuitry to the touch circuitry that could affect touch sensing. During display mode, the circuit can be configured to switch the gate lines to...

Apple generally, has excellent customer service. I went to the local Apple store Wednesday morning and pulled out my 3GS iPhone that had been dropping a lot of calls. It is easy to blame AT&T, but I noticed my iPad regularly gets more bars than my iPhone in the same location.

The Genius I saw hooked up my iPhone to a MacBook Pro and ran a diagnostic program that had access to a log showing the dropped calls on a calendar. He offered to replace my iPhone, so I agreed gratefully. He synced it up with iTunes on his laptop and assigned it my phone number and faster than you can say "Windows sucks," I was up and running.

I took the new iPhone home and used iTunes to load my photos, music and contacts to the new phone. I had two minor problems with the phone part of the device transfer as all my favorite phone numbers were lost so I had to redo that by going through my entire contact list and reselect phone numbers to be on the...

Qualcomm (http://www.qualcomm.com) has stopped sales of all FLO TV (http://www.flotv.com) products with service to the devices being halted in spring of next year. Why? The company is reportedly holding talks with various other parties for use of the technology and services. So maybe Apple should buy FLO TV for use with its iOS devices and perhaps even the Mac.

The FLO TV service allows users to tune into mobile broadcasts while on the go. The service touts many of the largest networks including ABC, Fox, MTV, ESPN, NBC, TLC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, and many others. And that's a lot of channels not currently included on the Apple TV's offerings.

The MediaFLO services platform in the FLO TV enables the broadcast delivery of mobile entertainment and information to the mass market. In addition to live mobile TV, the MediaFLO platform supports...

The press is reporting a monstrous patent case in Federal Court in the state of Texas that went against Apple for the "Cover Flow" way of rolling images across the display, as seem in the album art display in iTunes and elsewhere in the Mac OS.

While the judgement likely means at the end of it all, Apple may well have to pay some amount of money, the current US$600,000,000 judgement will not likely stand. Frankly, so many patents on computer graphical interfaces have been written it staggers the mind to thing much could really be novel anymore.

As an inventor with about 10 issued patents to my name, I am very familiar with the flawed US Patent system. You love it and hate it at the same time. Ironically, yesterday the patent office issued a new patent to Apple for some aspects of Cover Flow. I have not read the patents involved so this article is more related to the issues of tech innovation in general that that case in...

An Apple patent (number 7,808,479) for an ambidextrous mouse has appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. The ambidextrous mouse is configured for both left and right handed use.

The mouse may include right handed buttons on the front side of the mouse and left handed buttons on the back side of the mouse. The user may change the handedness of the mouse by rotating the mouse about a vertical axis of the mouse such that the left hand can use the left hand buttons and the right hand can use the right hand buttons.

The mouse may include a handedness selection system for configuring the mouse for right handed or left handed use even though the mouse has the capability for both right and left hands. The inventors are Steve Hotelling and Brian Huppi.

Here's Apple's background and summary of the invention: "Most computer systems, as for example general purpose computers such as portable computers and desktop computers, receive input from a user via an input...

This week Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities issued an in-depth 85-page note on Apple, saying the company will continue to grow, grow, grow -- and don't count out the Mac as part of that growth.

"We believe Apple is still in the early stages of capitalizing on the trend toward a digital lifestyle, while transforming itself to seize large opportunities in the enterprise market, advertising (i.e. mobile, TV, etc.), "cloud computing and social networking," White wrote.

He mainly talks about the iPad, which is taking the world by storm. But the iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, etc., are actually offshoots of the personal computer and even run a variant of Mac OS X. But they still need a computer to anchor them -- and the best choice is the Mac, which will remain the center of Apple's digital lifestyle focus.

In 2008, Forrester Research predicted that Apple would become the hub of the digital home by 2013. The research firm said that Apple had completely remade itself...

Apple has won patents from the US Patent & Trademark Office for Time Machine, Cover Flow and the Mighty Mouse.

Patent number 7,809,688 is for managing backup of content (Time Machine). Systems and methods for generating incremental backups are provided. In one implementation a method is provided. The method includes receiving, while a current view is displayed in a user interface, a first user input requesting that a history view associated with the current view be displayed. The history view is displayed in response to the first user input, the history view including at least a first visual representation of an earlier version of the current view, the earlier version including a first element. A second user input is received while the history view is displayed. The second user input requests that the current view be modified according to the earlier version, at least with regard to the first element. The inventors are Pavel Cisler, Steve Ko, Kevin Tiene...

Microsoft is at it again, breathlessly planning to underwhelm us with "me too" tooo late to be relevant software. They are planning to spend millions advertising their new smartphone software.

If Windows Mobile was so darn good why did Microsoft "miss a generation" in the smartphone market as Ballmer put it? I can well remember three of four years ago turning down a nearly new "smartphone" my cousin offered me at a cut rate price, because he reluctantly admitted it was running Microsoft Mobile OS. He is on his second or third generation of the iPhone now and never looked back. His old Microsoft infested smart phones are gathering dust, since he couldn't even give them away.

Now the Redmond gang that can't shoot straight, the folks who launched Windows Vista, Ken, Zune and a slew of other much less than stellar products, wants another shot at "killing" the iPhone. Yeah, right. If I remember correctly, Microsoft killed their own...

A new book listing on Amazon’s German web site appeared yesterday and offered some details off the next version of Apple’s iLife suite, which will reportedly arrive this month or next. And apparently iLife '11 will continue to show Apple's disdain of physical media by dropping iDVD.

Could it be that the giant server site that Apple is building in Maiden, North Carolina, will be the replacement for iDVD? Rather than burning DVDs Apple may want us to send movies to the cloud from which they can be accessed almost anywhere.

I still maintain that there's lots of us folks who would rather have physical media than our stuff stored in the cloud. Or at least in addition to cloud storage.

Also, per various reports, iLife ’11 will be 64-bit and will integrate iPhoto more closely with social networks. iWeb, Apple’s web site building app, will be “completely rewritten” and a new unnamed application will make its debut with the new version, according to reports.

In what has to be great news for Apple's iDevices (and, yes, also the Mac), PlayFirst, a publisher of interactive entertainment, and Frank N. Magid Associates, a market research and consulting firm, has released the results of the first comprehensive study of digital game play behavior across the three major platforms for casual gamers: social networks, mobile, and computer games.

The proprietary national study reveals that two thirds of American adults play some type of digital game, and one out of three regularly play casual games on social networks, smartphones, or computer platforms. Additionally, among game players, nearly 80% of those 18-34 play casual games regularly and fully 80% say they enjoy playing games more than watching movies, listening to music, and reading books, newspapers, or magazines.

The research group says that gaming is a cross-generational, cross-platform activity that’s ubiquitous, yet requires unique and targeted experiences to be...

FedEx delivered my Apple TV device Friday. It was such a small package it sort of surprised me. When when the packaging came off it was even smaller than I had even first thought. Slickly packaged in the typical Apple retail box, the cord, remote controller and instructions were artfully packed.

Note that this is the 187th remote control in this house. Due to controller command conflicts with my great but discontinued Apple HiFi sound system, I had to put some black electrical tape over the window air conditioner's RF eye. Remote controllers reproduce like rabbits around here. Turning the sound system on and off with the remote used to also turn the window air conditioner on and off as well. Reminds me of a time in my youth when I installed a radio in my cousin's car and turning the radio on also opened the passenger window. Oops, I guess I drilled a hole into a hidden wiring harness.

PCalc is a full-featured, scriptable scientific calculator with support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations, as well as an RPN mode, programmable functions, and an extensive set of unit... Read more

FileZilla 3.10.2 - Fast and reliable FTP...

FileZilla (ported from Windows) is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface.
Version 3.10.2:
Note: Now requires a 64-bit Intel processor.... Read more

The Hit List 1.1.11 - Advanced reminder...

The Hit List manages the daily chaos of your modern life. It's easy to learn - it's as easy as making lists. And it's powerful enough to let you plan, then forget, then act when the time is right.... Read more

Bartender 1.2.32 - Organize your menu ba...

Bartender lets you organize your menu bar apps.
Features:
Lets you tidy your menu bar apps how you want.
See your menu bar apps when you want.
Hide the apps you need to run, but do not need to... Read more

ClamXav 2.7.5 - Free virus checker, base...

ClamXav is a free virus checker for OS X. It uses the tried, tested, and very popular ClamAV open source antivirus engine as a back end.
I hope you like and use ClamXav a lot and that it helps keep... Read more

xScope 4.1.2 - Onscreen graphic measurem...

xScope is powerful set of tools that are ideal for measuring, inspecting, and testing on-screen graphics and layouts. Its tools float above your desktop windows and can be accessed via a toolbar,... Read more

MacFamilyTree 7.3.3 - Create and explore...

MacFamilyTree gives genealogy a facelift: it's modern, interactive, incredibly fast, and easy to use. We're convinced that generations of chroniclers would have loved to trade in their genealogy... Read more

Skype 7.5.0.738 - Voice-over-internet ph...

Skype allows you to talk to friends, family and co-workers across the Internet without the inconvenience of long distance telephone charges. Using peer-to-peer data transmission technology, Skype... Read more

PushPal 3.0 - Mirror Android notificatio...

PushPal is a client for Pushbullet, which automatically shows you all of your phone's notifications right on your computer. This means you can see who's calling or read text messages even if your... Read more

Gameloft has excitedly announced that Dungeon Hunter 5 is on its way! Once again, you will adventure across the land of Valenthia exploring dungeons and fighting monsters. The game will have a new asynchronous multiplayer mode called Strongholds... | Read more »

It Came From Canada: Jurojin: Immortal N...

At this point it’s pretty safe to say that no MOBA is going to dethrone Dota 2 and League of Legends anytime soon. After all, if Batman can’t do it, nobody can. However, with a genre as popular and profitable as this one, there’s still room for... | Read more »

Final February Fun at 148Apps
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you’re looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out... | Read more »

GDC 2015 – Does Not Commute is Definitel...

GDC 2015 – Does Not Commute is Definitely a Game You Should Keep an Eye on
Posted by Rob Rich on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
We were teased about Mediocre Games’ (Smash Hit,
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F84 Games & POW! Announce Stan Lee V...

F84 Games has announced that it is working with legendary comic creator Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment to produce Stan Lee’s Hero Command. The game will be a action adventure of heroic proportions.
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Setlyst Keeps Your Set Straight So You C...

Setlyst Keeps Your Set Straight So You Can Focus On Rocking Out.
Posted by Jessica Fisher on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
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Space is Vast, So Space Agency Has a Vas...

Space is Vast, So Space Agency Has a Vast New Update!
Posted by Jessica Fisher on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
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Size DOES Matter Review

Size DOES Matter Review
By Campbell Bird on March 2nd, 2015
Our Rating: :: HARD TO BEATUniversal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
This rhythm game has a unique control scheme and performance system that make it feel like a true... | Read more »

The first ever action 3D card battler Al...

On the other hand, you probably haven’t played an action 3D card battler – until now. Step forward, All Star Legion.
All Star Legion is a 3D QTE-based action RPG card battler, but fear not – the game itself isn’t as convoluted as its description.... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Another Tranche Of IBM MobileFirst For iOS Ap...

IBM has announced the next expansion phase for its IBM MobileFirst for iOS portfolio, with a troika of new apps to address key priorities for the Banking and Financial Services, Airline and Retail... Read more

Sale! 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros for up to $...

B&H Photo has the new 2014 15″ Retina MacBook Pros on sale for up to $250 off MSRP for a limited time. Shipping is free, and B&H charges NY sales tax only:
- 15″ 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro: $... Read more

WaterField Designs Introduces the Minimalist...

With Apple Pay gaining popularity, Android Pay coming in May 2015, and loyalty cards and receipts that can be accessed from smartphones, San Francisco’s WaterField Designs observes that it may be... Read more

Sale! 15-inch 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro for $...

Best Buy has the 15″ 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro on sale for $1774.99 $1799.99, or $225 off MSRP. Choose free home shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Price valid for online orders... Read more

13-inch 2.5GHz MacBook Pro (refurbished) avai...

The Apple Store has Apple Certified Refurbished 13″ 2.5GHz MacBook Pros available for $170 off the cost of new models. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard, and shipping is free:
- 13″ 2.5GHz... Read more

13-inch 2.5GHz MacBook Pro on sale for $100 o...

B&H Photo has the 13″ 2.5GHz MacBook Pro on sale for $999.99 including free shipping plus NY sales tax only. Their price is $100 off MSRP.
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27-inch 3.5GHz 5K iMac in stock today and on...

B&H Photo has the 27″ 3.5GHz 5K iMac in stock today and on sale for $2299 including free shipping plus NY sales tax only. Their price is $200 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest price available for... Read more

Apple Launches Free Web-Based Pages and Other...

Apple’s new Web-only access to iWork productivity apps is a free level of iCloud service available to anyone, including people who don’t own or use Apple devices. The service includes access to Apple... Read more

Survey Reveals Solid State Disk (SSD) Technol...

In a recent SSD technology use survey, Kroll Ontrack, a firm specializing in data recovery, found that while nearly 90 percent of respondents leverage the performance and reliability benefits of SSD... Read more

Save up to $600 with Apple refurbished Mac Pr...

The Apple Store is offering Apple Certified Refurbished Mac Pros for up to $600 off the cost of new models. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each Mac Pro, and shipping is free. The... Read more

Jobs Board

*Apple* Solutions Consultant - Retail Sales...

**Job Summary** As an Apple Solutions Consultant (ASC) you are the link between our customers and our products. Your role is to drive the Apple business in a retail
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*Apple* Pay Automation Engineer - iOS System...

**Job Summary** At Apple , great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job
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Sr. Technical Services Consultant, *Apple*...

**Job Summary** Apple Professional Services (APS) has an opening for a senior technical position that contributes to Apple 's efforts for strategic and transactional
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Event Director, *Apple* Retail Marketing -...

…This senior level position is responsible for leading and imagining the Apple Retail Team's global engagement strategy and team. Delivering an overarching brand
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*Apple* Pay - Site Reliability Engineer - Ap...

**Job Summary** Imagine what you could do here. At Apple , great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring
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